


Just Peachy

by iwillphysicallyfiteyou



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-06-30 00:09:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19841419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillphysicallyfiteyou/pseuds/iwillphysicallyfiteyou
Summary: -synopsis; patton and dean (deceit) used to be married, and after six long years of being divorced patton starts dating an intelligent handsome man named logan. after two years of dating him, patton decides that he wants to introduce logan to his kids. patton has joint custody of roman, remus, and virgil. technically roman and remus aren’t his kids, they’re dean’s from a relationship before patton, however, patton did help raise them so deceit thought it was important that they still got to be with patton. virgil, however, is dean and patton’s surrogate kid. remus and logan got along well from the beginning, roman struggles with accepting logan, and virgil refuses to even be near logan. even though it is a lot of work, logan refuses to give up on these kids.-content; (spoilers) divorce, food mention, eating disorders, death, pregnancy, childbirth, surrogacy, homophobia, miscarriage, mental illness, ableism, sexism, misogyny, self-harm, abuse, self-induced burning, mentions of lung cancer caused by smoking, psychosis, mentions of underage sexual activity (nothing is described in-depth, smoking, self-doubt, crying, insults, suicidal ideation, lying, and sexual content.





	1. 1. "everyone, this is logan."

Patton cuts the lasagna into multiple squares as he sings along to I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. He places the lasagna in the middle of the table before checking his watch. 

7:13 pm. Logan’s going to be here at any moment.

“Roman! Remus! Virgil!” He yells up the stairs.

The sound of multiple footsteps radiates throughout the house.

Nervousness and excitement radiate through Patton as he sees his three sons rush down the stairs. 

Remus has told Patton many times how excited he is to meet his boyfriend, Logan.

The kids have seen Logan on Patton’s Instagram and framed pictures of the two throughout the house, however, they haven’t met him in real life. Patton has wanted to make sure that Logan is going to be around for a long time before meeting his kids, and after two years this meet seems long over-due. 

Logan has been talking about meeting his kids ever since Patton brought up that he has kids. Of course, he understood why he wanted to wait before they met, but that didn’t stop him from occasionally bringing up the idea from time to time.

“Where’s Logan?” Remus asks.

“He’s not here yet, but I want y’all down here since he’s going to be here at any moment,” Patton explains.

Virgil rolls his eyes before plopping onto the couch.

“No feet on the furniture.”

Virgil rolls his eyes again before dramatically sitting up.

Gosh, Patton does not miss being his age.

Patton sets the table before turning off the music that was blasting throughout the kitchen.

It’s unusual to have all of the kids home on a Friday afternoon. Virgil is at Patton’s house during the week and at Dean’s on the weekend. Roman and Remus are the opposite, staying at Dean’s during the week and Patton’s during the weekend. It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that Roman and Remus started staying at Patton’s every Friday afternoon after school (or at four pm during the summer.)

A black blazer drives into the driveway. 

“Logan’s here!” Patton shouts excitedly.

“Someone’s excited,” Roman chuckles.

The sound of the doorbell rings throughout the house. Patton rushes to the door and opens it. Logan gives Patton a huge grin before giving him a hug.

Patton can’t help but notice how handsome Logan looks. He’s wearing his usual outfit, white shirt, jean jacket, and dark grey jeans. He’s not wearing a beanie for once, and even though Patton loves his hair he still misses the beanie.

They separate and walk over by the couches, which is where the three teens are hanging out. All three of them are staring at Logan with questioning glances. 

“Everyone, this is Logan. Logan these are my three sons, Roman, Remus, and Virgil,” Patton introduces them.

They all say their hellos before migrating to the dining room. Everyone starts eating while occasionally making small talk.

“So Logan, what’s your job?” Remus asks before shoveling a way too big bite off lasagna into his face.

“I’m an astronomy professor at the University of Florida,” Logan answers.

“Fancy,” Roman quietly remarks.

After twenty minutes of small talk, eating way too much lasagna, and Virgil quietly sulking in his chair, everyone is finished with their food.

“Do you have Instagram?” Roman asks.

“I do,” Logan answers.

“Ooh, what’s your username?”

“Oh my God, Roman,” Remus chuckles.

“What? I like Instagram?” Roman defends before Logan tells him his username. He follows him before putting his phone back into his pocket.

Virgil quietly gets up and goes into the bathroom.

“Virgil’s so weird,” Roman remarks.

“Roman,” Patton scolds.

“Yeah, I know, I’m not trying to be mean or anything, he’s just so quiet,” Roman explains.

“There’s nothing wrong with being shy,” Patton defends Virgil.

“Yeah, yeah,” Roman says before drinking the last of his water.

“So Logan, next Friday we’re going to the arcade, would you like to join us?” Patton asks.

“Of course I would,” Logan says with a smile.

Patton smiles back before looking over at Roman and Remus. 

Patton lets pout a sigh of relief. Everything went over relatively smoothly, and no one seems to hate each other, which is good.


	2. 2. "thanks, i guess."

Virgil sighs as he reads the text that Patton sent him.

“I won’t be home until 7 because of a last-second meeting so Logan will be picking you up from school. I gave him your number.”

“What’s wrong?” Talyn whispers.

“My dad’s boyfriend is picking me up from school,” Virgil whispers back.

“That sucks.”

Virgil continues to doodle in his math notebook as the teacher drones on and on about linear equations.

♡ 

Logan puts his MacBook into his brown faux leather messenger bag as one of his students enters the room.

“Professor Hayman?” the girl asks.

He’s told his students to call him Professor Logan, however, there’s a couple of freshmen that insist on using his surname.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I got lost on the way to the student services.”

“I’m about to go past there on my way so I can take you there,” Logan tells her as he puts his messenger bag on over his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

The two walk to students services in awkward silence before they part ways. 

Logan enters his car and put his bag on the passenger seat. Wait no, Virgil is going to sit there. He moves it to the back seat.

He looks at the time, if he keeps this up he’ll be late.

♡ 

“I’m parked in front of the school.”

Virgil assumes that the text is from Logan, so he decides to ignore it.

The bell rings as almost all of the students jump up and rush out of the door, however, Virgil hasn’t even put his notebook and pencil bag away.

“Virgil, you can’t stay here,” the teacher says.

Virgil huffs before putting his stuff into his backpack and slowly leaving the classroom.

As Virgil leaves the high school he immediately sees Logan’s car.

Logan smiles and waves at the kid, who frowns before walking towards the vehicle. 

“Hello,” Logan says as Virgil sits on the passenger seat.

Virgil ignores him as he puts on his seatbelt.

“How was school?”

Virgil puts on his headphones and blasts Bring Me the Horizon.

Logan gives up on trying to make conversation and starts driving.

His GPS takes him to the wrong road, and Logan debated asking Virgil for help. Ultimately he decides that Virgil isn’t going to talk to him and trying is just going to annoy Virgil.

Eventually, he finds the house.

Virgil turns his music off and puts his headphones into his bag.

“Thanks, I guess,” Virgil mumbles before exiting the car.

“You’re welcome,” Logan sighs as the car door slams shut.

Virgil rushes inside and immediately throws his botos and bag onto the couch. He makes a b-line towards the fridge and grabs garlic hummus and puts some chips in a bowl. He takes his snack into his room and sits at his desk.

He turns on a YouTube video and eats his snack, and continues this for three hours.

“I’m home!” Patton yells from downstairs.

Virgil turns his phone pff and runs downstairs and engulfs Patton in a hug.

Patton is the only person that Virgil truly likes, so he gets really excited when he gets home.

“Hi, Kiddo!” Patton greets as he returns the hug.

Patton’s been waiting for Virgil to like Patton less considering how moody he is, but as time goes on he seems to like Patton more and more.

“Logan told me you were very polite today.”

Virgil’s stomach twists with guilt.

“Umm, about that,” Virgil says as he looks at his feet and rubs the back of his neck. “I said thank you right before I left the car, but other than that I ignored him.”

“Well, you are really shy. As you get to know him better you’ll get more comfortable and will be able to talk to him.”

Virgil sucks in his breath as he tries to gain some confidence before saying, “does Logan think I’m weird?”

Patton’s eyebrows furrow.

“No, no, no, Sweetie, of course not. He’s said that he really likes you and that he thinks you’re a doll.”

“I’m not sure if being called a doll is a compliment or not,” Virgil tries to lighten the mood.

Patton chuckles.

“Definitely a compliment. Now, what do you want for dinner?”

“I’ve really been craving grilled cheese all day,” Virgil admits.

“Alright, Sweetie.”

Patton goes into the kitchen, leaving Virgil to stand by himself in the living room.

Virgil goes by the photo wall and looks around. Most of the photos of Dean have been replaced, however, any photo with Dean in a professionally taken family photo. There are only two photos of Logan. One is a normal selfie with Patton’s head leaning on Logan’s shoulder. The other photo is a selfie where they’re squishing each other’s faces with their hands.

Virgil furrows his brows as he realizes how much Logan must mean to Patton. He’s never wanted to disappoint his dad, however, if it was socially acceptable he would deck Logan in the face. Call Virgil selfish, but he hates that Logan is taking up Patton’s time.

He sulks into the kitchen. Patton immediately recognizes that pouty face.

“What’s got you over-thinking?” Patton asks.

“Dad, I don’t want to go to Father’s house on Saturday,” Virgil admits for the millionth time.

“I know, Sweetie.” Patton gives Virgil a sad smile.


	3. 3. "i love you, dad."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Logan and Patton talk about Virgil.

Roman sits on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed that he shares with Virgil.

Patton’s big house that they’ve lived in since they were three is not as nice as Dean’s apartment. It’s not a bad apartment by any means. There are three bedrooms, and Virgil and Roman even have a walk-in closet.

Roman chuckles as he remembers how upset little six-year-old Virgil was when he found out that he had to share a room with Roman. Of course, it makes sense since Remus has always been a minimalist, so Roman and Virgil needed the walk-in closet a lot more than Remus.

Roman usually drives Virgil home from school, however, he got detention for punching Remus in the face during lunch.

Dean was angry when he got the call, of course, but thankfully they didn’t call Patton. He wouldn’t be angry, he’d be deeply disappointed, which is considerably worse.

Roman gets a text simply saying, “roblox?”

Roman chuckles as he texts back, “obviously”

♡ 

“He’s always been quiet and moody,” Patton admits to Logan over the phone.

“Before I met him every time you told me he was really shy I thought you were exaggerating,” Logan chuckles.

“Sometimes I worry about him. He’s very closed off and only has one friend, and they don’t seem very close. Of course, he talks to his therapist and me, but I feel like he needs a good friend.”

“Poor kid.”

“I’m also worried about his other dad, my ex-husband. He absolutely hates him and keeps telling me that he doesn’t want to go to his house. I asked Roman and Remus about it and they both said that Dean is very nice to him, but Virgil either straight up ignores him or yells at him.”

“Really? There must be something deeper than just choosing sides.”

“Yeah, I just wish I knew how to help him.”

“I know I’ve only met him twice, but I can tell he’s a good kid.”

“He told me about how he mostly ignored you besides saying thank you once,” Patton says, and Logan chuckles.

“Yeah, I could tell as soon as he left the school doors that he was in a mood,” Logan says as he paces around his livingroom. Talking to Patton on the phone has always made Logan feel like a lovesick teenager.

“He has never liked school.”

“Most kids don’t.”

“Something tells me that you did,” Patton teases.

“Of course I did, but I’m a huge nerd.”

“I loved school too, mostly because I got to be surrounded by my friends.”

“I didn’t have that many friends in high school.” Patton plops down onto his couch, which is too small for him to comfortably lay on.

“A smart loner, that reminds me of Virgil. Sorry, I can’t stop thinking about him right now. Especially since an hour ago he randomly asked me if you think he’s weird.”

“Wait, really? Did I do anything to make him think that?”

“I don’t think so. He’s always been insecure around new people,” Patton explains.

“I’m not in any place to diagnose him with anything, but do you think it could possibly be a problem with social anxiety?”

“Well, I don’t want to overshare Virgil’s personal information more than I already have, but he has been diagnosed with social anxiety.”

“Oh, damn.”

“I gotta go, Virgil just got out of the shower and I promised that I’d watch some movies with him before bed.”

They exchanged their goodbyes before hanging up the phone.

Patton changed out of his jeans and blue sweater and into a silk blue shirt and blue flannel pants.

He goes into the living room and gets Netflix ready.

“Hey,” Virgil mumbles as he goes down the stairs. His black hair is still wet, and his pajamas are slightly too big. The red long-sleeved shirt has “ROMAN” in bold white letters. This shirt has been around for a couple of years now.

“Hey, kiddo.”

“Can we watch Coco?” Virgil sits down on the couch.

“Of course, I love Coco.”

Patton turns the movie on and sits down next to Virgil.

Virgil leans his head on Patton’s shoulder and says, “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Virgil.”


	4. 4. "i feel like i'm drowning."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Everything is becoming too much for Virgil.

Remus has been excited for this day since last Friday.

“Logan followed me back on Instagram,” Remus tells his brother as Roman is driving them from school.

“How’d you even find his Instagram, you stalker?” Roman asks.

“He should up in my suggested follows. Also, how can you call me a stalker when you follow him too?”

“Uhh, we exchanged usernames, that ain’t creepy.”

“You guys are so dumb,” Virgil mumbles as he continues scrolling through Tumblr.”

“Shut up emo,” Remus snarls.

“Hey, be nice to my cute little sensitive boy,” Roman snaps.

Virgil rolls his eyes and tries not to smile. 

“Aren’t you two excited?” Remus changes the subject.

“Yeah, I’m so excited to spend the day with my dad’s fuck buddy,” Roman says.

“Ew, Dude, please don’t call him that,” Remus scolds.

“Do you think Dad will invite Logan to Virgil’s birthday party next month?” Roman speculates.

“He better not,” Virgil grumbles.

“He probably will.”

“Remus, don’t say that,” Virgil hisses.

“What? It’s true.”

“I hate to agree with Remus, but he’s probably right.”

Virgil starts to feel like he’s breathing through a straw.

“Hey, it’s fine. Besides, your only friend doesn’t seem to care about literally anything,” Roman reassures.

“You could stab them and they’d apologize,” Remus adds.

“Please don’t make fun of Talyn,” Virgil whispers. He might not be super close to them, but he still appreciates them.

“We’re not trying to,” Roman says as he drove into the driveway and parked the car.

The two older siblings leave the car, but Virgil stays behind.

After about a minute the car door opens to reveal Roman.

“Hey, Buddy, why are you still in here?” He asks.

“I feel like I’m drowning,” Virgil gasps.

“Woah, woah.” 

Roman sits down next to Virgil and puts an arm around him. Usually, that would make Virgil feel so much worse, but this time it makes him feel secure and safe.

“I’m sorry for bringing up the idea of Logan going to your birthday party. I shouldn’t say things that will freak you out,” Roman apologizes as Virgil leans into his brother’s chest.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.” A couple of tears escape from Virgil’s eyes.

Roman wraps his other hand around the kid. Virgil’s not used to hugs from anyone other than Patton, not that he’s complaining.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” Virgil admits as he starts hyperventilating.

“Why don’t we go inside?”

“I can’t feel my legs.”

“I’ll carry you,” Roman suggests, and Virgil nods his head.

Roman effortlessly picks him up and brings him inside.

“Uhh, whatcha doing there?” Patton asks as Roman enters the house.

“Nothing,” Roman casually responds as he gently sets Virgil down onto the couch.

“Is he hyperventilating?” Patton asks as he rushes to Virgil’s side. “What happened?”

“I was being a dick and freaked him out,” Roman says as he sits down next to Virgil.

Virgil wants to explain that Roman did nothing wrong, that in fact, Roman has helped him a lot, and that this is his fault, not Roman’s. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get a word out.

Patton starts rubbing Virgil’s back with circular motions.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Roman, can you answer the door?” Patton asks as Virgil clings to him.

Roman gets up and opens the door to reveal Logan.

“Hey,” Roman says as he lets him in.

“Salutations.” Logan walks over by Patton and Virgil. “Virgil, are you okay?”

“Go away!” Virgil impulsively yells.

“Sorry, I’ll go over by Remus,” Logan says.

Roman and Logan walk together upstairs to go to Remus’ room.

“I-I didn’t mean to yell at him,” Virgil breathed.

“I know Sweetie, why don’t we do some breathing exercises. Breathe in.”


	5. 5. “it’s called tough love.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all go to the arcade.

Virgil’s breathing has calmed down a ton, and after touching u his Pete Wentz style eyeliner they all left for the arcade.

Remus and Roman immediately go towards the laser tag.

“Come with us,” Roman begs Patton.

“Alright.”

The three of them left, which left Logan and Virgil by themselves.

“I’m, uh, sorry I yelled at you before,” Virgil awkwardly apologizes.

“It’s quite alright.” Logan looks around the arcade. “Why don’t we play that basketball game?”

Virgil looks up at Logan, who’s at least 6′0, and realizes that he doesn’t have a chance of winning.

“Sure,” he says, even though he doesn’t really want to.

Midway through the game, Virgil realizes that his shorter height actually gives him an advantage. 

Virgil wins by one point.

“You’re good at that,” Logan praises, and Virgil just shrugs.

They play a couple more games until eventually Patton, Roman, and Remus walk over by the two. 

“Having fun?” Patton asks, and Logan nods his head. 

Ring, ring, ring.

Roman looks at his phone and sees that Dean is calling him. 

Roman excuses himself from the group and goes outside to answer the call.

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Roman. You forgot your school bag here,” Deceit tells him.

“Oh, shit. Can I go get it tonight? It’ll be a while since I’m at the arcade now.”

“Of course, you have the house keys. let yourself in, I’m probably going to go to bed soon.”

“Will do.”

They exchange goodbyes before hanging up the phone. Roman turns around towards the door and is met face to face with Remus.

“Holy-”

“So, you’re going to father’s tonight?” Remus interrupts him.

“Just to get my bag, then I’m coming right back.”

“Why do you even need your bag?”

“It has my homework in it, which I need to finish.”

“You should tell him that you fell asleep as soon as you got home,” Remus suggests.

“Why?”

“That way you can pop in when Virgil’s there.”

“That’s… actually a good idea. Which is rare for you.”

“Haha,” Remus says, completely deadpan.

“You seem to care a lot for Virgil considering how much you make fun of him,” Roman snarls.

“It’s called tough love.”

“It’s called being an asshole.”

“What. Did. You. Just. Say?” Remus and Roman are nose to nose now.

“Are you two gonna make out all day or are you gonna get back inside?” Virgil asks.

“Virgil!” 

Virgil flinches.

“Jesus, you’re loud.” Virgil rubs his ears.

“How long have you been standing there?” Roman asks him, desperation coating his voice.

“I heard Remus say just say, and that’s it. Why? Were you talking about me?” Virgil teases.

“Why would I waste my time on you?” Remus snarls.

“Be nice,” Roman says before entering the arcade.


	6. 6. “i just wanted to say hi.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman picks up his bag from Dean’s house.

Roman pulls into the driveway and enters the house without knocking. It still feels weird after eight years even though this is as much his house as Dean’s and Remus’.

He makes a b-line for the stairs and knocks on Virgil’s door. Knocking on the door to his own bedroom feels almost as out of place as not knocking on the house door.

“What?” Virgil yells from inside the room.

“I just wanted to say hi.”

The door quickly opens.

“What are you doing here?” Virgil whispers.

“I forgot my school bag here, so I’m picking it up,” Roman explains.

“Does Dad know you’re here?”

“Obviously.”

“Can I show you something?” Virgil asks eagerly.

“Of course.”

Virgil grabs Roman’s hand and drags him over to the laptop sitting on the bottom bunk.

“My drawing of Jacksepticeye, Pewdie, and Markiplier as Power Puff Girls got over 5,000 notes,” Virgil tells him with a huge grin on his face.

“That’s so cool! I didn’t know you had a Tumblr, tell me your username please, please, please, please-”

“Oh my God, fine!” Virgil interrupts before telling him his username.

Roman follows him before saying goodbye.

♡ 

“I’m home!” Roman yells as he enters the house.

“No one cares!”

“Remus Elijah Devereaux!”

Roman chuckles as he goes up the stairs.

He plops down onto his bed and uses his Eeyore stuffed animal as a pillow.

Roman’s throat and eyes feel heavy but he tries his best to conceal it. He clears his throat and sits up. He’s not a little bitch that cries, he’s a man. Roman knows that the idea of men not crying is stupid, but he disregards it. He takes out his phone and texts Emmett and asks if he wants to go to the driveway and “hang out” in his car. Of course, he says yes. Roman changes his clothes, brushes his teeth for the second time today, before grabbing his keys and sneaking out.


	7. 7. “constantly a mess.”♡ Just Peachy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets himself into a bit of a pickle.

Logan sighs as he exits his car. Grading papers has been extremely draining, and the only thing that can keep him going is coffee. However, he drank all of the coffee in his apartment. Thankfully the Target by his apartment is open 24/7. Every time he goes to Target at one am he tells himself it’s the last time, but he knows it’s not true.

As he’s going through the store since the coffee is on the other side. He stops in his tracks when he sees a disheveled Roman buying a tube of lube.

“Um, Roman?”

He snaps his head over to Logan and drops the lube to the ground.

“What are you doing?” Logan asks, trying not to be too judgemental.

“Grocery shopping?”

Logan raises his eyebrows at him.

“Please don’t tell my dad.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. It was nice seeing you.”

“Bye.”

♡ 

Roman enters the house at two am, and Patton was sitting on the couch.

“You left at six, that’s eight hours, Roman,” Patton scolds. 

Roman stood there and didn’t say anything.

“I asked Logan if he knew where you were, just in case, and he said he said he wouldn’t tell me. When I asked what he did today, he said he spent the day lecturing, grading papers, and went to Target at one pm.”

Roman still didn’t say anything.

“Where. were. you?”

Tears start escaping Roman’s eyes, and he still refused to say anything. He discreetly drops the bag behind a giant house plant.

“Were you safe?” 

Roman nods his head.

Patton goes up to him and gives him a tight hug. Roman hugs him back and can’t hold back the sobs anymore.

Patton separates from him and puts his hands on his shoulder.

“I’m going to get you a therapist.”

“What?” Roman accidentally shouts.

“If you can’t talk to me then you need to talk to a professional.”

“But I’m not crazy.”

“I know,” Patton gives him a small sympathetic smile, “but you are secretive.”

That hit hard. He’s always said that Dean is secretive, and Roman absolutely did not want to be compared to him.

“I’m going to bed.” Roman runs up the stairs, remembers the bag behind the plants and quickly grabs it before running back up the stairs.

♡ 

“How are you enjoying your latte?” Logan asks.

“It’s really good,” Patton tells him before taking another big gulp.

The coffee shop is very much up Patton’s alley. There’s fairy lights, exposed brick walls, and so many pastries. This is Logan’s favorite place to take Patton, especially since he always tells Logan how much he loves it.

“How is Roman, did he get home alright?” Logan asks before taking a sip of his scolding hot black coffee.

“He got home alright. He refused to tell me where he was.”

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah, especially from Roman. I mean, Remus does whatever he wants, but Roman?”

Logan nods his head.

“Gosh, kids are stressful.”

“Sounds like it. Remus doesn’t seem to be as stressful.”

“Oh no, he definitely is, but he’s kind of just constantly a mess.”

“Oh.”

“Anyways, how’s your mission to decorate your apartment?” Patton asks before gulping down the rest of his latte.

“Good, I bought a vase with fake flowers. I also bought more throw pillows for the couch, so there’s not a whole lot of sitting space on the couch.”

“You can never have too many throw pillows.”

“Your enabling is apart of the problem,” Logan teases, and Patton chuckles.

“You know, Roman and Remus are at their friend’s house.”

“After this, why don’t we go to my place then?” Logan suggests.

“Of course,” Patton smiles.


	8. 8. “i am going to kill myself.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil goes to Talyn’s house.

“I am going to kill myself,” Virgil says to the bathroom mirror.

He takes off his beloved black hoodie that has a white snake design draped around the front.

Now he’s staring at his white chest and stomach. He’s gotten thinner lately. He inspects the burn marks all over his skin. They are not healing well, not that it matters anymore, of course.

He’s being forced to stay with his “father”, he despises his dad’s new boyfriend, he has no friends, and on top of it all, he’s super ugly.

As he stares into his own eyes in the mirror his phone goes off.

Incoming call from Talyn.

Okay, maybe he has one friend.

He answers the phone and Talyn immediately starts talking about how they know that he hates where he is, but they have good news.

“My mom left my stepdad,” they announce.

“How is that good news?”

“He was an abusive fuckhole that monitored everything that my mom and I do, so now I have some freedom.”

“Oh, well that is good news then.”

“Yeah, my mom said I can hang out with friends as long as we hang out at home since my stepdad is a psychopath that will go sicko mode in public if he sees me,” they explain.

“Oh my.” This is a lot of personal information that Virgil was not expecting.

“Yeah, so do you wanna hang out? I’ll send you my address. My mom said she wants to have you over for dinner since I don’t have any other friends and she’s very excited.”

“Uhh,” he looks into the mirror. He should be taking the kitchen knife sitting on the sink to my neck. “Sure, I’ll have to ask my father first, though.”

They say their goodbyes before hanging up. Talyn texts Virgil their address.

Virgil takes one more like in the mirror before putting his hoodie back on. He can’t kill himself now, he has a friendship blossoming.

He leaves the bathroom and sees his father watching the news while sitting on the couch.

“Hey, Father.” Dean looks up at his son and smiles. Virgil never talks to him unless it’s absolutely necessary, but he’s still excited none the less. “Can I go to my friend’s house?”

“Yeah, Of course.” Virgil going to hang out with a friend? Virgil having a friend? This is very much new to Dean, but he won’t say anything about that.

“Can you drive me there?” Virgil asks while staring at his feet while holding his hands behind his back.

“Yes, what’s the address?”

♡ 

The house is quite big, not bigger than Patton’s house but definitely a family-sized up. It looks old and a bit run down but nothing too bad.

“Have fun,” Dean says as Virgil exits the car. Virgil doesn’t say anything back when he shuts the car door.

“Virge!” Talyn enthusiastically yells as they open the door. 

That’s a new nickname.

“Hey.” Virgil walks up to the door.

“I know that my enthusiasm is so out of my place for me, I’m just really happy.” She guides me into the house. “We are currently living with my grandparents, so there are quite a bit of people here.”

“Okay, cool.”

“My mom is making lasagna.”

“I love lasagna,” Virgil admits, and Talyn chuckles.

“Me too. Do you wanna go to my room and watch YouTube?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

Her room is quite small. The walls, pillows, and sheet are all white. The only color is from the wooden dresser, mirror with a gold rim, blue and white rug, and a pink blanket. It’s quite obvious that Talyn moved here recently, maybe even today.

“I don’t have a tv or laptop, but I have the iPhone 6 plus so my phone screen is quite big,” Talyn explains.

“Alright.”

Talyn sits on the bed and brings up dodie on her phone. I sit down next to her as we watch Tessa Violet cut dodie’s hair.

As I look around their room a bit more I realize that there’s more color than I initially realized. The pink of their lamp, green of the spider plant, the pink diary, all colorful yet subtle.

“Dinner is ready!” A women’s voice yells from downstairs.

“Ooh, lasagna.” Talyn turns off her phone and puts it in their pants pocket. 

They both go downstairs and sit at the dinner table. Two elderly people are also sitting at the table.

A middle-aged woman puts the lasagna in the middle of the table. Talyn says grace before we all get a piece of lasagna and start eating.

“So, what’s your name again, Vigilant?” the woman asks.

“Virgil.”

“Virgil, what a unique name.”

“Thank you.”

“So, Virgil, how old are you?” The women asks before taking a bite of her lasagna.

“Fourteen.”

“You’re Talyn’s age.”

They continue to make small talk until we finish our food. Talyn and Virgil go back to their room.

“Do you wanna watch Ouran High School Host Club?” Talyn suggests.

“What’s that?”

“You don’t- we need to watch it right now.”

After about four episodes Talyn’s mom drives Virgil home.

“Virgil?” Dean says as Virgil walks through the door.

“Yeah?”

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah.”

Virgil goes into his room and changes into a Led Zepplin shirt and grey sweatpants before plopping into his bed.


	9. 9. “you could just trust me.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil goes to Logan’s apartment.

The end of September and beginning of October went by fast. Talyn and Virgil hung out at Talyn’s house almost every weekend, and sometime during the middle of the week. 

Everyone has been excited for Virgil’s new friendship, except for Remus who constantly teases Virgil about it.

“Oh my goodness, you have a friend? I thought you were incompetent when it came to people, how’d you trick someone into liking you?”

Needless to say, Virgil is now grounded the day before his birthday because he socked Remus in the gut.

“Why Logan?” Virgil asks as he sulks into the car seat.

“Because I need to run some errands and I can’t trust that you won’t go on any electronics when I’m not there,” Patton says as he starts the car.

“You could just trust me.”

Patton sighs as he drives.

♡ 

“Hello,” Logan says as he opens his apartment door.

“Hi, Babe.”

We enter the apartment and Logan and Patton talk a bit before Patton hugs Virgil goodbye.

“So, my apartment is quite small so you’re kind of confined to the living room and kitchen,” Logan explains.

The kitchen and dining room are together. Weird.

“I do have some snacks, there are some extra blankets there,” Logan points at the pearl wick hamper. “I also have an old laptop here,” he lightly pats the laptop on the table, “it has some games and stuff.”

“Cool.” 

“I know you’re not supposed to be on technology but the laptop doesn’t have internet so I think the games are fine.”

“Cool,” Virgil repeats.

“Alright well, I will be in the other room grading papers, if you need anything then just shout out.”

Virgil spent the next three hours playing the Sims 4 and ignoring Logan every time he tried to talk to Virgil. 

“Are you hungry?” Logan asks. After a couple of seconds, he sighs. He gets a bag of Chex mix from the cupboard and puts it on the table next to Virgil before leaving the room again.

Virgil continues to drown his sims.

Knock knock knock.

Logan enters the room and opens the door.

“Hi, Patton.”

Virgil quickly presses save and quit and walks away from the laptop.

“How was everything?” Patton asks.

“Fine,” Logan answers as Virgil appears at his side.

“Did you have fun, Virgil?” Patton asks with a huge grin on his face.

“Sure,” he walks past Patton and starts walking down the hallway.

“Thank you so much,” Patton says before giving Logan a kiss on the cheek.

♡ 

“Virgil, so your birthday is tomorrow,” Patton says as we enter the house.

“Yup.”

“We’re going to go out for dinner where ever you want, and you’ll no longer be grounded.”

“Oh heck yeah.”

Patton chuckles. “Logan says he can make it to your birthday party this weekend.”

There goes Virgil’s mood.

“I didn’t know he was invited,” Virgil snarls.

“Of course he’s invited.”

“Whatever.” Virgil sulks into his room.

He grabs a book and reads it for a couple of hours before it’s bedtime. 

♡ 

“Morning, my lovely fifteen-year-old,” Patton coos as he gently caresses Virgil’s face.

Virgil grumbles.

“Come on, honey, time to wake up.”

Virgil slowly opens his eyes to see his dad’s smiling face.

“Hop in the shower, okay?” Patton says, and Virgil mumbles out an okay.

Patton leaves the room. Virgil sits up and yawns. He opens his curtains and turns on his fairy lights. It’s too early to turn on the ceiling light, it’ll hurt his eyes too much.

He grabs his journal that Patton got him from Office Depot. It was originally plain black, but Virgil has covered the front and back with stickers he got from Etsy. He wrote down everything that’s on his mind like he did every morning.

After about ten minutes he puts the journal back under his bed and turned his ceiling light on. He grabs some clothes and goes into the bathroom. He took a freezing cold shower before brushing his teeth. He blow-dried his black hair then straightened it. He put on his blue-ish grey long-sleeved shirt that has Mickey Mouse on it. Patton got him this shirt for his fourteenth birthday. He slips on his black skinny jeans that have holes in the knees. He puts a beanie on his head before putting on some eyeliner.

He leaves the bathroom and goes downstairs. He looks over at the clock, 12:23 pm.

“Heya, Kiddo, happy birthday,” Patton greets as he adjusts his glasses. He’s wearing a marroon short-sleeve button-up tucked into black jeans with a leather belt.

“Hey.” Virgil goes over to the kitchen and grabs a glass and fills it up with water. He gulps it down all at once, then fills it up again.

“You must be thirsty,” Patton observes.

Virgil gulps down the drink.

“And water is wet.”

“Don’t get smart on me,” Patton scolds. “Now, where do you want to go out to eat?”

“Umm, how about Mildred’s Diner?”


	10. 10. “is she dead.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton and Virgil go out to eat for Virgil’s birthday.

“What are you going to order?” Patton asks as they look at the menus.

“Probably the Lamberton cheeseburger,” Virgil says.

After a couple of minutes, the waitress sets down their drinks. Patton got coffee and water, and Virgil got only water. They tell the waitresses their orders before she walks away.

“How’s school?” Patton asks.

“Fine.”

“How is it really?”

Virgil’s eyes snap up to Patton’s sympathetic face.

“What?” 

“Your teacher called me-”

“Oh, God.”

“Let me finish. You can tell me if anything’s bothering you,” Patton explains.

“What did the teacher even say?”

“That she’s worried about you. That you’re very quiet and that you seem very sad.”

Virgil rolls her eyes.

“Hey, no attitude. She’s worried about you,” Patton says as he puts some half-and-half into his coffee.

“Can we change the subject?” Virgil asks.

“Of course, let’s talk about how my little boy is fifteen.”

“Oh, goodness.” Virgil tries his hardest to not smile.

“You’re so old, and you’re getting so tall. One day you’ll be taller than I am.”

“I mean, you are pretty short.”

“Hey!”

“In a couple of months, Roman and Remus are going to be legal adults.”

“That’s a scary thought,” Patton teases.

“Do you think Remus will still talk to me after he moves out?” 

“Of course, he’s just being an angsty teen, he’ll grow out of it,” Patton reassures.

“He has always been an asshole.”

“Virgil!”

“Whoops, slipped out.”

“Here you go,” the waitress put the food onto the table,” enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you.” Patton gives the waitress a quick smile before she walks away.

Virgil is suddenly overwhelmed by how big the burger is.

“It’s okay, I’ll only eat a little. It’ll be fine.” Virgil thought to himself.

“Are you okay?”

Virgil snaps his eyes up to Patton’s.

“Yes,” Virgil says harshly.

“Are you still upset about Remus?”

“Uhh-”

“It’ll be alright, he’ll come around. I promise,” Patton says as he twirls some pasta around his fork.

“Okay.”

“Has Dean talked to you about Miranda?” 

“You mean Roman and Remus’ mom?” Virgil grabs his burger.

“Yes.”

“No, he never brings her up,” Virgil says before taking a bite of my burger.

“Okay.”

“Why?” I say while chewing.

“No reason. He’ll tell you eventually.”

“Is she my mom?” 

“What, no, your aunt is your surrogate mom, remember?”

“Why else would Dean bring up Miranda?”

“You’re supposed to call him Father, not Dean,” Patton scolds. “it has to do with Roman and Remus, but I don’t want to tell you incase Dean wanted to.”

“Is she dead?”

“No. I’m making this sound a lot sketchier than it is, okay?”

“Okay.”


	11. 11. “gosh, you’re adorable.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is having his birthday party.

“Happy Birthday,” an uncle that Virgil almost never sees greets.

“Thank you,” he says as the uncle hugs him.

More people enter the house. Usually, Virgil would be at Dean’s house since it’s a Saturday, however, Patton’s house is bigger and therefore better for Virgil’s birthday party.

“Hey buddy,” Dean greets, “happy birthday.”

Virgil gives him a quick smile. Dean was holding a pretty sizeable bag, which was weird. Usually, he just gives Virgil a shirt or videogame.

“Virge!”

“Talyn!” Virgil gets up to greet his friend. This is the first time Talyn’s been to his house, and the first time that she’s been in public without their mom, besides school of course. 

“Your house is so nice. It’s also very white.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Even more people come in as Talyn and Virgil continue talking.

“Hey, Oldie,” Remus greets.

“You’re older,” Virgil says.

“That doesn’t make you any less old.”

“I guess.”

After that riveting conversation, Remus walks away.

“Is that Remus? Talyn asks.

“Yup.”

“He looks like a homeless person.”

“Hey, that’s not very nice.”

“He has long hair and he’s wearing a mucky jacket.”

“A mucky jacket?”

“Yeah man, it’s dark green, so mucky.”

“Do all homeless people wear dark green jackets?”

“Oh, hush.”

“You clearly like the color green,” Virgil gestures to Talyn’s green hair, “maybe you’re insulting him because you like him.”

“I can’t believe you right now.”

“Ooh, Talyn has a crush.”

“You are so immature.”

Patton walks over to Dean.

“Have you told Roman and Remus yet?” He asks as Dean takes a sip of his Sprite.

“Nope.”

“Dean.”

“I am not going to ruin Virgil’s birthday,” Dean snarls.

Patton huffs at him.

“I’ll talk to them on Monday,” Dean assures him.

“Thank you,” Patton says before walking over to Virgil. “Can we do presents now?”

“You’re the dad, not me,” Virgil responds.

“Right, then let’s do presents.”

Patton ushers everyone into the living room.

Virgil receives quite a bit of cards and money from distant relatives, and even some gift cards. Remus got Virgil a pair of Skullcandy wireless headphones. Roman got him a black beanie, an instant camera with film, and got me the book Carrie by Stephen King. Talyn got him lotion, hand sanitizer, a friendship bracelet, and an apple spice candle.

Virgil grabs a galaxy themed bag and is confused until he sees who it’s from. Of course, Logan the astronomy professor got him a space bag. In the bag was a starlight projector and a box of chocolates.

Virgil taps his foot impatiently as Dean’s present is put into his lap. He tears the tissue paper out of the bag and dove in. He got a black sweater, cologne, a leather journal, a leather wallet, a leather belt, a plain black messenger bag, and plain black shoes. The last thing he got from Dean was a framed photo of Virgil, Dean, Roman, and Remus.

Patton then puts his bag on Virgil’s lap. Virgil opens it up to find a black and white sweater, black nail polish, black pencil eyeliner, and his own laptop so that he no longer has to borrow Roman’s.

Virgil says thank you so many times that he’s actually told to stop, he even says thank you to Dean. 

Finally, it’s time for cake. Patton made a cake, realized that he put in salt instead of sugar, then went to Costco and bought a new cake. It’s a strawberry cake with chocolate frosting, Virgil’s favorite. The ice cream is strawberry flavored with chocolate syrup, which is also Virgil’s favorite.

“This cake is so good,” Talyn says with their mouth full of food.

“Yeah,” Virgil says before shoving some ice cream into his mouth. He feels guilty for eating such unhealthy food, but he tries to ignore it since it’s his birthday.

Once everyone’s done eating some of Virgil’s extended family leave.

“In twenty minutes I have to leave,” Talyn says.

“One day you should sleepover.”

“I wish, but my mom is still paranoid.”

Remus walks over to Virgil and Talyn.

“Hey Oldie, how’s your girlfriend?” Remus asks as he sits in between them.

“Don’t misgender me,” Talyn demands.

“Someone’s feisty.”

“Please don’t make fun of my friend,” Virgil says.

“Why? Is the little emo gonna cry?”

“Remus.”

“Aww, li-

“Remus!”

“Remus,” Dean scolds from a couple of feet away.

“Sorry,” Remus mumbles before walking away.

Patton sighs as he puts the ice cream into the freezer.

“Hey, Babe,” Logan says as he walks over to Patton.

“Hi.” Patton gives Logan a quick kiss on the cheek. “You look nice.”

Logan is wearing a black polo with a blue tie and black jeans.

“Thank you, you look good as well.” 

Patton is wearing a beige sweater with black skinny jeans.

Patton can’t help but blush.

“Gosh, you’re adorable.” Logan quickly kisses his nose.

“Gag,” Roman says, and the two men look over at the teenager.

“What are you doing in here?” Patton asks.

“It’s my kitchen too,” Roman responds before filling up his water bottle with water. The two men stare at him in silence until Roman leaves the room.

“I hope Virgil likes what I got him,” Logan says.

“He definitely does, especially the chocolate,” Patton reassures him as he looks up at his boyfriend. When they’re not wearing shoes Logan’s only two inches bigger than him, but when they are wearing shoes Logan’s a whole five inches taller. It may not seem like a lot, but to Patton it is.

“Where are your parents?” Logan asks. “I thought they were going to be here.”

“There was an emergency at my dad’s company and they couldn’t make it. They want Virgil to spend the night next weekend.”

“Will Virgil want to go there?”

“Probably not, he thinks they’re pretentious, and he’s not exactly wrong. However, they are his grandparents so he should spend time with them.”

“Does Dean know?”

“Yes, he also thinks he should go.”

“When are you going to tell him?” Logan asks as he grabs a soda can.

“When the party is done.”

Logan nods his head before getting a glass cup and filling it with tap water. He takes a sip and tries not to make a face. Tap water is nasty.

♡ 

“Hey, Virgil,” Patton says as Virgil starts to walk up the stairs.

Virgil stops in his tracks and looks at his dad. “Yeah?”

“Grandma and grandpa weren’t able to come to the party.”

“I noticed.”

“They want you to spend the night at their house next weekend.”

“Ew, why?”

“Because they love you, and because you’re their grandchild,” Patton explains.

“But, Dad-”

“You’re going. If you want I can ask if Roman and Remus can come as well so that there will be less attention on you, but I can’t promise anything.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

“No problem. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Virgil says before walking upstairs.


	12. 12. “what a kid.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean has a talk with Roman and Remus.

Remus throws his favorite shirts in his suitcase. 

“You’re only going to be there for two days,” Dean says as he leans against the door frame with his arms crossed.

“You’re right.” He takes out a bunch of shirts except for three.

Dean chuckles.

“What?” Remus asks.

“It’s just funny that you’re already packing.”

“It’s in a couple of days, and I’m excited.”

“I don’t think Virgil feels the same way.”

“Well, he’s a killjoy.”

“Remus.”

Remus rolls his eyes.

“Grandma and Grandpa’s house is so big. They have seven guest rooms, Dad, seven,” Remus exclaims.

“That’s a lot.”

“Sorry, I know you don’t like rich people.”

“That’s not true.”

Remus raises his eyebrows at him.

“I don’t like billionaires, but I’m fine with wealthy people. Especially Jeffrey and JoAnne, they’re hardly Bill Gates,” Dean explains.

“Isn’t Bill Gates dead?”

“That’s not the point.”

Remus goes back to packing, and Dean goes over to Roman’s room.

“Hey,” Dean greets. 

Roman is standing in his room with a stack of papers in his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Practicing my lines for the school musical tryouts,” Roman responds.

“I thought you already were in the musical.”

“That was this year, these tryouts are for next year’s tryouts.”

“Oh, of course, sorry.”

Roman goes back to saying his lines out loud while gesturing dramatically.

Dean can’t help but smile as he looks at his kid. He’s getting very tall, and the baby fat that was once on his face has disappeared. His little boy somehow turned into a grown man without his permission. 

“You’re kind of creeping me out, Father,” Roman says.

“Alright.” He walks away.

♡ 

Virgil turns off his music as he hears a familiar voice. Oh God, Logan is here. He turns his music back on and goes back to journaling.

“Virgil!” Patton shouts.

Virgil turns his music off and puts his journal away.

“Virgil!”

“I’m coming!”

He mopes down the stairs as Patton and Logan watch him from the living room.

Logan realizes that this is the first time that he’s seen Virgil without any makeup on.

“You didn’t wash the dishes like I told you too,” Patton says.

“Yeah, sorry, I’ll get to that.”

Virgil walks past the two men and to the kitchen.

“I might just tell Virgil about Miranda myself,” Patton tells Logan.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s not his mom, and I’ve already alluded to it before.”

“But what if he tells Roman and Remus before Dean does.”

“That’s… that’s actually a good point. Virgil will definitely tell Roman.” Patton scratches the back of his neck.

“Dean has to tell them eventually.”

“If he doesn’t tell them before they leave then I’m telling them once they get back from my parents’ house.”

“Alright,” Logan sighs.

“They deserve to know.”

“I know.”

“Is she dead!?” Virgil yells from the other room.

“No!” Patton and Logan yell.

“I wasn’t aware he could hear us,” Patton says.

“I’m literally in the room right next to you!”

“Do you think Dean is scared to tell them?” Logan asks.

“I mean, yeah.”

“I mean scared that, you know.”

Patton furrows his brows. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t know how to explain this with Virgil listening in.”

“I’m not listening, go on!” Virgil yells from the other room, and Logan chuckles.

“What a kid.” Logan smiles to himself.

“Yeah, I couldn’t ask for a better kid,” Patton says quietly.

“I’ve always wanted a kid.”

“I know.” Patton smiles.

♡ 

Dean paces around the living room.

“Father?” Remus asks as he enters the living room.

“Can you get Roman?”

Remus nods his head before escaping into Roman’s room.

Dean sits down on the couch and put his head in his hands.

“Hey,” Roman says as he sits down next to Dean.

“Hey, um. So your mom…”

“What about her?” Remus asks, his mind racing. The last time he saw his mom was fourteen years ago. If it wasn’t for the scrapbooks and stories he wouldn’t even be sure if she existed.

“She wants to be in your lives again.”


End file.
